1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an imagewise information processing method and apparatus, and more particularly to an imagewise information processing method and apparatus in which imagewise information is once stored in a memory and the imagewise information is read out from the memory in accordance with a processing instruction and reproduction-processed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In copying apparatuses or the like, a sorter has heretofore been used as a collator for copies. For example, where it is desired to obtain plural copies of an original comprising a plurality of pages, the original-reading and image-output operation has been effected for each page the same number of times as the number of copies, and the resultant copies have been mechanically assorted by the sorter into trays having the same number of bins as the number of copies and have been piled in the order of pages. However, such a sorter is limited in the number of bins and therefore, is limited to the collation of the order of ten to fifty copies for the large size of the device, and this has led to the problem that the number of sheets contained per bin is limited to twenty to forty sheets.
An imagewise information processing method and apparatus which have solved the above-noted problem of the sorter are proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,684. This method comprises, for example, reading an original by making the imagewise information thereof into electrical signals by means of a CCD or the like, once storing the imagewise information in a memory, reading out the imagewise information from the memory in accordance with a processing instruction, and effecting the reproduction processing such as copying. When it is desired to obtain y copies of an original comprising x pages, the original is successively read, the imagewise information of the x pages (for example, T.sub.1, T.sub.2, . . . , T.sub.x-1, T.sub.x) is stored in the memory, the information is read out in the desired order of pages y times (for example, such as [T.sub.1, T.sub.2, . . . , T.sub.x ].sub.1, [T.sub.1, T.sub.2, . . . , T.sub.x ].sub.2, . . . [T.sub.1, T.sub.2, . . . , T.sub.x ].sub. y) and y copies in the desired order of pages are obtained. According to this method, a great number of copies can be obtained within a short time by a compact apparatus.
The memory used in the above-described method is an erasable memory and has the function of erasing the stored information so that it may be repeatedly used during each imagewise information processing. The erasing of the imagewise information may be instructed within the time from after the reproduction processing has been terminated until new imagewise information is stored in the memory, but it is cumbersome to operate the memory each time. It is also undesirable from the viewpoint of keeping the information secret when the possibility of forgetting to erase the memory is taken into account.